Investigation of shielding method of ELF magnetic field generated from conductors

We have studied experimentally the shielding method of ELF magnetic field applied to the source of line conductors. For the single‐phase line current, it appears to be difficult to achieve effective shielding. On the other hand, for the balanced three‐phase conductors, including triangle and twisted configuration, a certain reduction of generated magnetic field was achieved by adjusting the configuration of conductors or by surrounding the conductors with cylindrical shielding materials made of ferromagnetic materials or nonferromagnetic metals. Normalized characteristics between phase current, distance between source current and observation point, distance between phase conductors, and the pitch of twisted cable were derived. In addition, the effect of unbalanced current was also investigated. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 131(2): 12–19, 2000     

Analysis of a self‐regulated,self‐excited,brushless three‐phase synchronous generator,which includes the effect of core losses

This paper presents a novel analysis of a self‐regulated, self‐excited, brushless three‐phase synchronous generator, which includes the effect of core losses. The core losses are modeled by equivalent core loss resistances connected to additional windings on the generator's magnetic coupling model. A magnetic circuit is drawn from the magnetic coupling model, and an electrical equivalent circuit of the generator is derived by utilizing a duality between the magnetic and electric circuits. Using this equivalent circuit, the generator's steady‐state performance is theoretically predicted, and the results are verified through experiment. In addition, the power losses during power generation are analyzed quantitatively. The proposed analysis takes into account the nonlinearity of the exciting impedances due to magnetic saturation. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 131(2): 51–60, 2000     

Tensile test of poly(vinyl chloride) filled with ground calcium carbonate particles

The fracture behavior of poly(vinyl chloride) filled with ground calcium carbonate particles during a tensile test was studied. The particles were prepared by crushing natural raw crystalline limestone. For this purpose, 10–50 parts of the particles having two different mean sizes (2 and 8 μm) without further surface treatment were mixed with 100 parts of poly(vinyl chloride) and 3 parts of lead stearate as a stabilizer using a mixing roll. A tensile test was carried out using a dumbbell specimen. As a result, the yield stress decreased with increase in the particle content; however, there was no significant influence of particle size. From scanning electron microscopic observations of the specimen's surfaces during the tensile test, it was found that the particle/matrix interfaces were delaminated and formed voids around the particles when the applied stress approached the yield stress, that is, the particles acted as voids and the matrix around the voids was plastically deformed effectively. These observations appear to be the reason for the decrease of yield stress by the incorporation of the particles. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 70: 311–316, 1998     

Rocket-triggered lightning experiments on zinc oxide arresters and their applications to power transmission lines

In measurements of rocket-triggered lightning current and voltage performed between 1986 and 1995 on the mountain top of Okushishiku in the Kanazawa area, the authors succeeded in artificially inducing winter lightning to arresters. Using the data obtained from those measurements, we analyzed the energy absorption characteristics of surge arresters, such as are installed on every transmission line tower for three phrases, by EMTP. The energy withstand capability of an individual arrester was verified to be approximately the same as the expected value. The analysis results for the energy share of each arrester connected in parallel showed that the usual light duty arresters installed on every tower have the possibility to be able to absorb extreme winter lightning energy even if the lightning hits the power line directly. © 1998 Scripta Technica. Electr Eng Jpn, 122(4): 25–33, 1998     

A computer-aided design of EMC microstrip dipole arrays using nonlinear optimization techniques

This paper describes a method for designing electromagnetically coupled (EMC) printed dipole arrays. The advantages of EMC dipoles include greater bandwidth, higher efficiency, and an easier match to the feed lines, when compared to classically fed printed antennae. The excitation mechanism is provided by a strip transmission line embedded inside the substrate which couples energy parasitically to the microstrip antenna. Electromagnetically coupled microstrip dipoles have been investigated by empirical or approximate analysis techniques. As a result an approximate model has been derived for microstrip dipoles. The method is based on the method of moments solution to an integral equation derived from the approximate Green function for a grounded dielectric slab. The element lengths and offsets and the stub length of the EMC dipole array are determined by the direct search optimization method of Hooke and Jeeves. To show the feasibility of the proposed method, a mathematical formulation and numerical results are presented for Chebyshev arrays. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 125(4): 60–66, 1998     

Preference for Japanese complexion color under illumination

To find the chromaticity coordinates of the “Preferred Complexion of Japanese Woman” under illumination, subjective estimation experiments were conducted on the complexions of 3 female models under each of 40 colors of illumination. The chromaticity coordinates of “Preferred Complexion” for each model were about the same together. The average chromaticity coordinates of 3 female models were (u′, v′) = (0.2425, 0.4895) under the standard illuminant D65. The “Preferred Complexion of Japanese Woman” in this experiment was compared with the “Preferred Complexion of Caucasian Woman” studied by Sanders. The “Preferred Complexion of Japanese Woman” was shifted to a slightly higher saturation and reddish in hue, compared with the actual complexion of “Japanese Woman.” On the other hand, the “Preferred Complexion of Caucasian Woman” was orange in hue, the same as the actual complexion of “Caucasian Woman.” The color shift of saturation of the “Caucasian Woman” was 3.5 times as large as that of the “Japanese Woman.” © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 22, 269–274, 1997     

Asymmetrical modulation and overmodulation of parallel-connected NPC-PWM inverters

The neutral point clamped (NPC)-PWM inverter has significant advantages, such as its ability to operate motors with nearly sinusoidal current waveforms. For this reason, in larger-capacity inverter systems, NPC-PWM inverters using GTOs and the like have been put into practical use, because of great advantages to large-capacity ac motor drives, such as lower ripple currents and higher output voltages. With the spread of applications, inverters of still larger capacity are expected. However, since the capacities of such switching devices are insufficient, a certain technique and controlling method are proposed for the parallel connection of NPC inverters. In this paper, conventional modulation techniques are extended to improve the inverter characteristics; asymmetrical modulation and overmodulation techniques are introduced for the parallel-connected NPC inverter. In the proposed modulation strategies, the waveforms become more complicated, so that it is difficult to analyze the output waveforms. For those waveforms, an analytical waveform analysis method using the switching function is proposed. With such a method, the physical meaning of harmonic generation can be realized to some extent. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 120(2): 49–58, 1997     

Use of residual voltage for diagnosis of electrical power cables used in nuclear power stations

This paper describes the fundamental characteristics of the residual voltage and the relationship between irradiation dose and residual voltage in electric power cable used in nuclear power generating stations. The residual voltage of unirradiated cable increases with time, tending to saturate. The saturated value of residual voltage is nearly proportional to bias voltage. This result supports the residual voltage of cable being caused by depolarization. From theoretical and experimental investigations we found that the residual voltage is not influenced by cable size or length. This is an important merit of residual voltage as the nondestructive diagnosis. When dose is more than 500 kGy, the residual voltages exhibit a peak. As the irradiation dose is increased, the peak moves to shorter time. Therefore, we can determine the degree of radiation degradation from the location of the peak. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn 119(2): 18–25, 1997     

Development of a 400 kJ Nb3Sn superconducting magnet for an SMES system

An Nb₃Sn superconducting magnet to store 400 kJ was developed as a unit magnet for a 2.4-MJ SMES system used for stabilization studies of electrical power systems. The superconducting magnet consists of a cryostat and an Nb₃Sn coil. The dimensions of the coil are: 340 mm inner diameter, 700 mm outer diameter and 177 mm axial length. The pool-cooled coil is a stack of 20 Nb₃Sn double pancakes, and the cooling channels are aligned between pancake coils. To reduce Joule loss in electrical power converters, the maximum operating current of the coil is designed to be 350 A, which is one order of magnitude less than the operating currents of similar scale coils for pulse use. The conductor is an Nb₃Sn monolithic conductor with cross section 1.50 × 2.38 mm. For good superconducting stability and high dielectric strength of the coil, the Nb₃Sn double pancakes were wound by the react-and-wind technique. Operation of dc current to 105% (367.5 A) of the design operating current was achieved without quench. After the whole of the coil was exposed out of liquid helium, the coil did not quench under 120 A current operation for more than 2 hours. It was verified that the coil was stable for the SMES system. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 121(3): 44–52, 1997